VARIETIES CULTIVATED. 355 



their application in brewing, they are used also for 

 medicinal purposes, their sedative properties rendering 

 them a very serviceable agent in the hands of the 

 physician. 



There are several varieties of the hop grown in this 

 country, which, differing in their habit of growth and soil 

 requirements, render their cultivation practicable in many 

 districts where otherwise they could not profitably be grown. 

 Of these the principal are the Canterbury and Farnham 

 Whitebines, so much alike in every respect, that they 

 are no doubt the same variety, and which, with the Gold- 

 ings, are held in the highest estimation in the markets, 

 and always command the highest price. Their quality, 

 of course, depends greatly upon the soils in which they 

 are grown ; those best adapted for them are the deep rich 

 soils on calcareous subsoils, or those of the greensand for- 

 mation, in which their roots may often be traced running 

 down to the depth of 1 2 to 1 5 feet. They are looked upon 

 as the most enduring variety upon the same lands, some 

 plantations being still in full bearing though planted 

 upwards of fifty years ago. They possess a vigorous 

 growth, and require poles from 15 to 18 feet high 

 The bines of these three sorts are speckled with reddish- 

 brown spots the Goldings being distinguished from 

 the others by the bine being somewhat stouter, and the 

 hops hanging more singly on the branches. The Grape 

 variety are so called from their habit of growing in 

 clusters like grapes. Of these there are several sub- 

 varieties the Yellow, the Green, and Cox's Grape, all 

 of which are of a hardier nature, and are less particular 

 as to soil than the preceding. The smaller varieties of the 

 Grape, when grown in the better class of soils, rival the 

 Goldings in quality ; on the stronger soils, with retentive 

 subsoils, however, they become coarse and strong, and are 

 of inferior quality. These are usually cultivated in the 



